Knapsack Problems

This book provides a full-scale presentation of all methods and techniques available for the solution of the Knapsack problem. This most basic combinatorial optimization problem appears explicitly or as a subproblem in a wide range of optimization models with backgrounds such diverse as cutting and packing, finance, logistics or general integer programming. This monograph spans the range from a comprehensive introduction of classical algorithmic methods to the unified presentation of the most recent and advanced results in this area many of them originating from the authors. The chapters dealing with particular versions and extensions of the Knapsack problem are self-contained to a high degree and provide a valuable source of reference for researchers. Due to its simple structure, the Knapsack problem is an ideal model for introducing solution techniques to students of computer science, mathematics and economics. The first three chapters give an in-depth treatment of several basic techniques, making the book also suitable as underlying literature for courses in combinatorial optimization and approximation.